From McCain's announcement email (I encourage you all to subscribe to both candidate's email lists. The messages are sometimes more telling than other coverage):

"As a father with three daughters, I can't express how proud I am to choose the first female Republican Vice-Presidential nominee."

It strikes me as odd that McCain is proud of himself for this pick. I get a sense of the connection the campaign is trying to make between having daughters and the choice of Palin, but, really, what's there to be "proud" of yet?

By the way, I love that if you go to Memeorandum right now, almost the entire page is about Palin. There's one nest of items about Obama's speech, swamped in all the real news. If the Democratic candidate gives a speech in a stadium, and the next morning everyone's talking about his opponent's campaign, what does that say?

Here is what the Obama camp said, in their press release about Gov. Palin, via Bill Burton.

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same."

This is an historic moment, but I'm sticking with my hail mary pass analysis of the Palin pick. It was clear in her speech that her target is disaffected Hillary voters. They might go with McCain because of her, or they might believe that McCain putting a lightweight like Palin on the ticket is an insult to women, especially when compared to people like Kay Bailey Hutchison. And make no mistake, being part-time mayor of a village in Alaska and Governor of Alaska (a state whose existence is basically the result of transfer payments from the oil companies) for a little more than a year isn't much in the way of experience or gravitas. Plus, the microscope will now be pointed at her, and already there are reports about her being a creationist, former big Pat Buchanan supporter (most Republicans know what that meant back in the day), etc.

Note, by the way, that the "Sarah Barracuda" nickname has been in active use since she became Governor, mostly because of the various special interests and corrupt politicians (primarily Republicans) that she's taken on and defeated. ..bruce..

vbspurs said... "Here is what the Obama camp said, in their press release about Gov. Palin, via Bill Burton. [¶] 'Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.'"

Is it sexist to note the extreme and blatant use of identity politics? Essentially: "Vote for me, I'm a woman."

How about the McCain campaign response claiming that the BHO campaign is disparaging women by referring to the size of the town where Sara was the mayor? Is this playing the gender card? Are we to believe that the BHO folks wouldn't have noted this if Sara was Sam?

And, of course, Sara used the POW POW POW angle.

Why are they pulling out all the stops on day one?

What happened to conservatives? Y'all will excitedly and enthusiastically abandon the practice of consistency and honor in the pursuit of the win? That's the problem, the principles are meaningless. Why are so many of you so excited about an opportunity to show you're total hypocrites?

At least show some discomfort with the identity politics or the lack of CIC knowledge? Otherwise, you look like clowns.

Simon, if that's what you interpret or spin as a concession, you really need to work on that. Pointing out that being the mayor of a village doesn't really help much with regard to becoming prepared for the Presidency (which all VPs must be prepared for) isn't a mistake on the part of Obama. Most people would, for example, question whether someone who was a successful owner of a small store should then become second-in-command of a major corporation. Similar concept here.

That isn't even true. As a state legislator he represented more people for 8 years than she did as mayor of 9,000 people. And his experience in the Senate and as a candidate beats her 2 years as Governor of AK during record oil profits. The comparison isn't even close. He WON a nomination. McCain merely picked her. Your criticism of Obamam would have barely made sense 15 months ago, but makes absolutely no sense now that he's the nominee.

Wow. What a lightning strike of a day. I'm just glad there's finally someone with executive experience on one of the tickets, someone who has actually governed. This seems very positive for McCain's chances.

Ding-ding! We have the dumbass comment of the day! Lord knows, if someone was reading Obama's resume vs. Palin's, they'd surely think, she has accomplished so much more in life. Please, until McCain gave her the dedazo today, she was an obscure politician from a sparsely populated state.

I don't think Palin could beat Obama at b-ball. After all, she's given birth to five children. It takes a physical toll. Whereas Obama's efforts to end the lives of millions of children has hardly made him break a sweat.

On the experience thing, were I inclined to vote Democratic, I think Obama would be a superb Vice President. He's young, vibrant, definitely someone you'd like to see rise to the highest office in the land (assuming you agree with his politics). That's the way I feel about Palin. She's who I want for President in 2012, so let's get her some job-training pronto.

She's also got the benefit, of, for the most part, not having to dissemble her actual beliefs.

somefeller said... "Most people would, for example, question whether someone who was a successful owner of a small store should then become second-in-command of a major corporation. Similar concept here."

If it was the shareholders' meeting to decide the new CEO for that major corporation, and for some reason the choice was between a successful owner of a small store and a former legislator, I think the former legislator would be lucky to get a single vote.

Like I said in the other thread, I welcome and even relish the Democrats arguments about inexperience here. I am certain the McCain message team is going to parry that argument effectively through the simple technique of reflection. That is: if it is a liability that we have an inexperienced person as VP, how much more of a liability is it to have an inexperienced person as president?

Furthermore, I think that we'll see arguments made that this pick represents a shift away from a Cheney-style vice presidency. I say that's a good thing.

Love the past tense. 2 years. Both during record oil profits. It's Alaska. (All you do is manage oil profits.) Sparsely populated. Under investigation for ethics charges. Yes, already. That's not equivalent to Pawlenty or Romney; not even close. "Ran a state" is just about the weakest argument in favor of her.

It's her personality and family background and gender, etc. I'm not saying a strategic, affirmative action pick is BAD. I'm just saying THAT'S WHAT IT IS. McCain didn't choose her because she "ran a state". Please.

Mortimer Brezny said... "'But Palin has accomplished more than Obama has with all his speeches.' That isn't even true. As a state legislator he represented more people for 8 years than she did as mayor of 9,000 people. And his experience in the Senate and as a candidate beats her 2 years as Governor of AK during record oil profits."

Sorry, Mort, but you must be pretty desperate to try that bit of MoDo Ninjitsu - state a case that shows one thing and claim it shows the opposite. Her experience as Governor beats any experience in any legislature, period. Experience is not parcelled out in bulk, and she's on a Presidential ticket, not running for Senate. If she was running for Senate, sure, Obama would have more experience than her. But she's not, although I note with considerable satisfaction that she's going to be the President of the Senate while he serves out his last two years in the Senate before vanishing back into the obscurity he so richly deserves.

Sure. And the reason he got more votes than Hillary Clinton -- the more qualified candidate, sad as that may be -- was purely a combination of white guilt and black racism. Affirmative action all the way. :)

"Don't cry because you left that door wide open, and a canny military commander walked right in."

What does this mean?

I seriously want some of you to explain why in a nano-second you will abandon the supposedly heartfelt concerns about BHO using the race card and supposedly being inexperienced as a CIC? You cannot do this.

You were so quick to dig the hole that you didn't bring a ladder.

There were probably ways that you could have arrived at your elation and had some lame justification, instead you went running down the sycophant path so that there is no longer a way to reverse, without exposing the emptiness of your beliefs.

Re: experience -- OK, Obama was elected to Illinois State Senate. What did he do? What significant legislation did he sponsor? How many times did he vote "present"? It wasn't even a full-time job! He was a part-time law school lecturer at the same time.

In the Senate, he has been too busy running for President to even hold meetings of the one committee he chairs. Every election prior to his nomination he won through thug tactics. His "representation" of his constituents is a joke.

She's NOT qualified. 19 months as Governor of Alaska, 6 years as Mayor of Wasilla, pop 8600, 4 years on the Wasilla City Council. You might think Obama isn't qualified (3+ years in the US Senate, 7 years in the Illinois State Senate, a district with 20x the population of Wasilla), but how does this possibly pass the laugh test?

I can't find it, Victoria, but I saw it earlier today. Basically, there was something proposed to ban debate or discussion of creationism in the classroom, and she took the side that if it came up, but was not part of the curriculum, that discussion should be allowed rather than banned.

How problematic that is to people will depend on the person-- and if history is any guide then a person's partisan inclinations will decide exactly how they will respond to that, or any other, issue.

Her hubby works for BP in producing oil from the North Slope of Alaska. (Note: 3 other Republicans are involved in scandals involving oil companies in Alaska, not saying she's involved, though, because I don't know that).

Come on mort, you can admit the truth now. Being black has always been catnip for the Democrats. They just can't resist a black candidate.

Look how many black Senators have been elected since Reconstruction, a hundred and thirty years ago: Edward Brooke, Carol Moseley-Braun, Barack Obama. Look how many black Presidential candidates the Dems have picked in that time: Barack Obama. Look at how many big city mayors have been black: Tom Bradley, Harold Washington.

You just can't fool the keen-eyed, clear-thinking Althouse commentariat.

Palin was answering a question from the moderator near the conclusion of Wednesday night's televised debate on KAKM Channel 7 when she said, "Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both."

And a little further down...

In an interview Thursday, Palin said she meant only to say that discussion of alternative views should be allowed to arise in Alaska classrooms:

"I don't think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."

She added that, if elected, she would not push the state Board of Education to add such creation-based alternatives to the state's required curriculum.

Palin: former Ethics Commissioner under investigation for ethics violations in Alaska.

Not only is she presumptively innocent, the buzz is that she really IS innocent. Democrats are going to look like a bunch of idiots if that report exonerates her. Meanwhile, she's successfully gone after members of her OWN party for political corruption. That's something the Republican Party could really use on a national ticket.

Obama: sponsored ethics reform legislation in Illinois and in the Senate. Passed the toughest federal ethics reform bill since Watergate.

Took bribes and got his early jobs through Chicago machine politics. He's a classic example of old politics: vote for empty "reform" legislation while depositing dirty money in your bank account.

Brezny, I will take you up on your bet. I will put up $1000 that McCain's position in the polls will improve after this pick. Let's compare the average of national polls today with the average of national polls a week from now. Email me at bmorris at stanford dot edu to make escrow arrangements.

Does experience matter, in which case the Democrats have at best an inverted ticket? Or does it not, in which case these attacks on Palin are grasping at straws?

I understand that a few are arguing that Obama has more experience than Palin. That is very debatable. I look at both of their records, and hers has more meat and less fluff. I can see someone taking the other side, but what I can't see as a credible argument is that Obama has so much more experience than her that it makes it not a problem for him but remains one for her.

Come on mort, you can admit the truth now. Being black has always been catnip for the Democrats. They just can't resist a black candidate.

Your sarcasm has convinced me. I'm sure ninety percent of black Democrats would have voted for an inexperienced young white dude from Chicago over Hillary "wife of the First Black President" Clinton, too. It was purely coincidental that Obama just happened to be black.

I understand that a few are arguing that Obama has more experience than Palin. That is very debatable. I look at both of their records, and hers has more meat and less fluff.

Obama earned his nomination. Palin is an affirmative action pick. All she has is a resume. He has millions of votes and the executive experience of running a campaign. Affirmative action does not beat merit.

Flip around the blogosphere, the liberals are going mad dog slobbering insane, accusing her of murdering polar bears for recreation.

This is precisely what I mean about being schooled by McCain.

Palin is a red-meat candidate. It drives the other side crazy.

They think it's Affirmative Action, but actually it's a F*CK YOU choice by Senator John McCain.

A woman whose one person reunites everthing they detest -- NRA member, non-elite background, rural small town heartland-born hockey mom, who didn't abort her Down Syndrome baby, and who probably has even less money than Joe Biden ($350,000 per year).

From the creation thing the only conclusion I draw is that Palin is in favor of free speech in schools, at least to some limited extent. Because stifling debate about non-scientific theories is the way to educate 10th graders! Sure.

I was hoping it would be "Phil Gramm in a skirt" (the derisive term used by certain so-called feminists to describe Sen. Hutchison) for what should be self-evident state chauvinistic reasons, but Gov. Palin will do just dandy.

Calling Gov. Palin a "lightweight" isn't much of an insult coming from the camp of the "community organizer" (or was it "activist") and not quite 1/3 through his first term U.S. Senator.

Victoria said: "No where does it say she is a Creationist.Unless someone can produce a direct quote where she advocates the theory, it's a non-starter."

Of course it's a non-starter, even if she is a Creationist. In fact, I'd think more highly of her intelligence if it turns out she believes God created the world, though I'd think less highly of her intelligence if it turns out she believes God did it in 7 days and exactly as described in Genesis. Whether she is or isn't a Creationist, I admire her for saying students and teachers should be free to discuss it in science class.

But man, IF she abused her power as governor by trying to get her sister's estranged husband fired from his job, all bets are off. Few things would be more unforgivable.

This affirmative action insult is ludicrous and is probably being bandied about by the Democratic lie machine. The Dems have no one like her. She can identify with hard working people, especially women. She actually worked at hard labor- commercial fishing. Who did the Dems have? All they had was a pathetic sob sister who never toiled a day in her life. Woman will vote for McCain because of her. I would bet a lot of Hillary campaign memorabilia is being thrown in the trash right now.

Simon says: Her experience as Governor beats any experience in any legislature, period.

So, in other words, Palin is more qualified to be President than John McCain?

Come on, the idea that just being a Governor for any small period of time is in and of itself better than being a Senator as preparation for the Presidency is ridiculous. I'll agree that executive experience is a good thing, but this isn't a managerial position, and the ability to think about, deal with and address issues of national importance counts for a lot when you're picking a President. All Palin has done is be the part-time mayor of a small town and serve as the person who doles out the revenue from the oil companies to the populace of Alaska for a little over a year.

Please. While I'll agree she's politically a bold move for McCain and a great way to change the conversation, thus far there isn't any reason to believe she's anything other than a mediocrity who got picked to join the ticket for PR and PC reasons.

Sounds like all the criticism from the left is on the question of experience. Every time I hear the question "Do we really want someone with so little experience a heartbeat away from the presidency?" it seems the rejoinder is rather obvious and devastating. It seems to me the balance of experience on one ticket is spot on and completely inverted on the other.

Former Republican presidential candidate and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: “Sarah Palin is a pleasant surprise for those of us who had hoped that Senator McCain would pick a principled and authentic conservative pro-life leader. Sarah Palin is both principled and authentic. As a Governor, she also brings an important balance of understanding of the critical domestic issues that is needed and that the Democrats have ignored with their ticket. Governor Palin is smart, authentic, tough, and a dynamic choice that will remind women that they may not be welcome on the Democrats ticket, but they have a place with Republicans.”

Anything from Senator Clinton yet?

What is she gonna she say?

"I knew myself. I worked with myself. I am a friend to myself. And Sarah Palin is no myself"

Free speech is not science. Basing "theories" on Bible stories is not science. Palin's assertion puts to question her ability grasp the difference between what's real and what's make-believe. But then I shouldn't single her out. This is a problem that pervades the whole of the GOP.

All that qualifies a politician for the job is electibility. You may not like it, but that's democracy.

It's insipid to talk about affirmative action in a popularity contest. The same goes for Obama as Palin. The democratic primary system was designed to find the nominee who was most likely to win in November. Obama played by those rules and won.

You may suspect the motives of the people that voted for Obama, but even if every voter who backed him did so because of his race, they did so thinking he would win the presidency in the end.

It's easy to spew the words affirmative action about the African-american man and the woman.

But consider this. McCain is a veteran, a protected status. Certainly some people voted for him because of it. Is it affirmative action that he beat Romney in the primaries?

Biden is an old guy, retirement ready. Is it affirmative action that he beat out younger candidates as Obama's VP pick?

Politics is the triumph of identity over every other consideration. Affirmative action is meaningless in this context.

Seeing as their two main contenders are neophytes, the hypocrisy machine has to kick in. They are mad because McCain pissed on their parade with a grand slam home run. They are mad because he knocked Obama off the front page. They are mad because, well, because, they are always mad.

After watching her speak I'm not very impressed. Totally lackluster and not ready to lead, as they say.

Until someone shows me how hosting dog sled races in the middle of nowhere translates into being able to negotiate with Iran, I'm going to stick with my first reaction: McCain made a horrible decision that will ultimately backfire. He should have picked Hillary. That would have been the maverick choice, and it would've won him the election.

The television is on mute but there's a bird on Fox news with a sign above her head and behind her that reads:

NUTTER

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Now you'd think they'd have seen that and possibly moved over a bit so a different sign shows

Anyway. Your comments have cheered me greatly this morining.

I saw Palin too, turned on the sound for that, I kept waiting for her to put on one of those nun hats with flaps and be taken up by a gust of wind, then fly around the place taking in a bird's eye view.

Free speech is not science. Basing "theories" on Bible stories is not science. Palin's assertion puts to question her ability grasp the difference between what's real and what's make-believe. But then I shouldn't single her out. This is a problem that pervades the whole of the GOP.

That's not how it works. See I should know. I'm a chemist, a scientist, who was raised by creationist parents. Learning to see the truth of the science without feeling as though I was completely rejecting the faith I was raised with was hard. Really, really hard. And for every single religious kid in a science classroom, it's going to be downright impossible to accept scientific truths if you feel that science is the antithesis of your most important beliefs, if you're not even allowed to ask about that. This isn't about getting creationism into schools, it's about being strategic in how you teach science to religious people. Because there's a lot of religious kids who get turned off of science in high school for this very reason. And then we wonder why America is so far behind other countries in math and science.

McCain is a veteran, a protected status. Certainly some people voted for him because of it. Is it affirmative action that he beat Romney in the primaries?

It is asinine to call something "affirmative action" when it involves preferred treatment of a group people can choose to join.

The reason Palin's a woman and Obama's (half) black is that they were born that way. The reason McCain's a veteran and Romney isn't is that McCain wanted to serve in the military and Romney did not. You might as well say that it was "affirmative action" that some people voted for Clinton because he was pro-choice.

"However, Mrs Palin is not entirely free of scandal. She is currently under investigation by the state legislature for possible abuse of power surrounding the dismissal of the commissioner for public safety, Walter Moneghan. Mr Moneghan alleges that he was fired because he was reluctant to sack a state trooper who was involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with her sister, Molly McCann."

In office, what, two years? And she already has her own abuse of power scandal. Hey, she gets things done!

However, since I got 7000 hits about that blogpost last night, with Althouse and LGF readers having read it, whereas he has a more modest blog, I think I dessimated the info a little more on Althouse at least. :)

I noticed that Fox were the only ones who interviewed the manager of the airport, though.

oh really? this explains why he got more delegates in places like texas and nevada while hillary got more votes? oh..and equalled her delegate count in n.h. while she got mroe votes? so much for that 'more votes' argument. try again.

here's a line which i think mccain/palin will likely be using: while others talk of change, some of us have been making change.

i'm sorry, but her record as an executive trumps all of those "present" votes by barry.

Until someone shows me how hosting dog sled races in the middle of nowhere translates into being able to negotiate with Iran…

Please tell us all here where negotiating with I ran has ever accomplished anything over the past thirty some years. Negotiating with Iran is insanity; doing the same thing over and over and over again expecting different results.